On Monday, the Senators captain confirmed he won't play in any of the team's final three games because of a back injury that's plagued him for the past two months.

He said, though, he full intends to play next season even if he has surgery.

After joining the team for practice last week to give the back a good test, Alfredsson, who, because of nerve issues, hasn't played since Feb. 7, has decided to focus on rehabilitation to get stronger.

That means Alfredsson will miss the final three games of the season, starting with Tuesday's visit by the Philadelphia Flyers at 7:30 p.m.

"The progress has been going pretty good," said Alfredsson, who wasn't on the ice for Monday's 35-minute workout at the Bell Sensplex. "Skating has been what's troubled me the most.

"I felt OK on the ice, but not good enough to justify playing in a game."

Is he worried the condition is career-threatening?

"No, not as of now," said Alfredsson. "It's been dragging on for a while. I've been limited to a lot of exercising and so forth, but I expect to be back next year."

Before shutting it down, Alfredsson wanted to make sure he exhausted every option without having surgery. He's concerned about the complications that go with having a procedure and wants to avoid it.

Alfredsson wants to see if another month in the gym is going to be enough to get him back on track.

If that doesn't work, a decision will made on whether surgery is the best option. The recovery time is 4-6 weeks.

"I'd really like to push that off as long as I can," said Alfredsson, who will finish this season with 31 points, including 14 goals, in 54 games. "The way that it's going, I really hope not to go down that route.

"Anytime you go and have surgery on your back, you're always worried about scar tissue staying with you. That's probably the biggest reason and, where I am now, it doesn't justify having surgery, either."

The Senators know this is tough for Alfredsson.

"It's his decision. If he felt it was best for him to come back and play, he would have come back and played," said centre Jason Spezza. "He's probably got a pretty good idea how he's feeling and what needs to be done.

"As a player, whether it's back, shoulder or knee, if you can rehab it first and think you'll get similar results, it's the route you'd rather take.

"Once you start cutting, if there's scar tissue, there's a little bit more of a lingering problem. He's a pretty smart guy. He knows his body pretty well.

Any decision he makes will be the right decision for him."

Alfredsson said this hasn't been an easy eight months.

"This is not something anybody wants to go through," said Alfredsson. "It's been a frustrating year for a lot of reasons. We all try to get back as quick as we can. By not playing now, I think I do myself a favour. I'll be better off for it."